Celebrating the Arts - Dwight-Englewood School

More documents

Recommendations

Info

ARTSINOURCOMMUNITY Dwight-Englewood School 18 “ Dwight-Englewood students, faculty, and alumni took part in the annual fundraiser known as Englewood Idol at the Bergen Performing Arts Center. This year one of our own was the winning contestant. Our Idol: Erica Butler ’11 Absolutely shocked” are just some of the words that Upper School student vocalist Erica Butler ’11 still uses to describe how she felt when she learned that she had won the coveted title of 2011 Englewood Idol. Butler dazzled with her extraordinary performance of “Superwoman” and several other popular music hits before a sell-out crowd at the Bergen Performing Arts Center on January 7, becoming the first-ever student from Dwight- Englewood to be named as the contest winner. Erica with her parents Eric (far left) and Iris Butler, and Alexander Diaz, Bergen PAC Director of Education (far right). Auditions for Englewood Idol are open to any high school student living in, or attending school in Englewood, NJ. Hundreds auditioned, and Erica was one of only 11 semi-finalists selected to perform. The popular competition benefits the Dr. John Grieco Scholarship Fund. (See Judy Aronson sidebar.) Erica, who names stars Alicia Keys and Jessie J as two of her favorite Erica performed with fellow D-E student Ethan First ’11 on guitar, for her winning performance in the 2011 Englewood Idol event. inspirations, has been singing solos and playing piano since she was 10, and is active in her church choir as well as in D-E’s own Jazz Rock ensemble. One of several in her family who sings, including her father and older sister Dana Butler ’07, Erica speaks in a somewhat soft but strong voice. Singing, however, is another matter. Her quiet demeanor in the classrooms and hallways of D-E is at odds with her incredible on-stage presence. She says, “With music, I can just let go…Music is my passion.” A D-E Lifer who still fondly remembers the Lower School principal greeting her each morning at drop-off, Erica says Math Department faculty member Shakeh Tashjian and Student Services Director Erika Raser are among those who have helped to mentor and support her during her education at the School. Erica hopes to pursue a combined major of music and business when she begins college in the fall at George Washington University in Washington, DC. Since winning the title of 2011 Englewood Idol, Erica has been honored with invitations to sing at a number of local gatherings, including an assembly at the Bergen Academies, and a recent meeting of the New Jersey State Legislature’s Tourism and the Arts Committee. Following her moving, improvisational performance of
Erica takes a bow after her performance for a meeting of the New Jersey State Legislature’s Tourism and the Arts Committee. With an event as successful as the Englewood Idol competition, you can bet that a number of people are working pretty hard behind the scenes. Judy Mitzman Aronson ’78 is one of them. Aronson is a history teacher at both Dwight-Morrow High School and The Academies @ Englewood who helps to put on the event every year. (She is also a proud graduate of the Class of 1978, and counts D-E Alumni Director Maria Sanchez-Gardner ’78 and D-E parent Linda Reiter ’78 “as some of my good friends.”) While music is a passion for the contestants, Aronson’s passion is clearly community building, which is a huge aspect of Englewood Idol. Aronson explains that Englewood Idol was the brainchild of community visionary John Landes, former president of the Englewood Area Community Foundation. It was originally designed to bring together students from three area high schools: The Dwight-Englewood School, Dwight Morrow High School, and the Academies @ Englewood. Today it is open to all high school students in Englewood. Says Aronson, “Englewood “You Raise Me Up” and “America the Beautiful,” Assemblyman Matthew W. Milam, the committee’s chairman, joked that he wished Erica could be available at regular 15-minute intervals to sing during the remainder of the meeting, to “keep the committee inspired.” Contestants in Englewood Idol perform not just for the love of the stage, but also for prizes donated by local vendors. Past first place winners of the Englewood Idol competition have been granted an all-day recording session at Bennett Studios in Englewood coupled with cash prizes supported by the Englewood Area Community Foundation. In addition, this year’s Englewood Idol and 1st and 2nd runners up will be awarded a Dr. John Grieco Scholarship. The “Idols” later perform both together and as soloists at local area community centers, schools, and senior centers. Idol is more than a musical competition; it is a way for Englewood’s high school students to get to know each other on a different level, outside of school, and on their own terms. This event has become a great way for performing arts students and staff to get to know and trust each other.” Englewood Idol is also the largest annual fundraiser for the Dr. John Grieco Scholarship Fund, which is named after the Englewood public school superintendent who spearheaded the creation of the Academies @ Englewood as well as other initiatives. Aronson is the founder and advisor to the fund. Organizers of the Idol event are students in the Dr. John Grieco Scholarship Fund elective and club, which focuses on teaching students all aspects of event management, from creating budgets to designing marketing plans to ticket and T-shirt sales to event production. Aronson, who lives in Tenafly with her husband, Mark, and children Jacob, Sam, Lizzie, and Molly, says that many people deserve credit for Idol’s success, notably Dwight-Englewood English teacher and D-E Well Represented at Idol Competition Judy Aronson ’78: Passionate for the Englewood Community At the 2011 Englewood Idol event, Erica Butler took top honors, but plenty of other D-E students performed at the show. Impressive performances by Gina Marie Enriquez ’14 and Brian Park ’12 placed them among the 11 semi-finalists. Lexi Byron ’11, Kara Byron ’13, Zoe Oz ’13, Taylor Gilroy ’11, Danni Chalfin ’13, and Erica Klein ’11, who call their group SixChix, also performed as dancers and won the title of “Best Dance Crew.” In addition to these performers, Ethan First ’11 provided musical accompaniment to Erica Butler; Michael Hajjar ’11 served as co-MC; and Alexander Koren ’12 and Andre Amirsaleh ’13 provided intermission juggling entertainment. Alan Brown, D-E Upper School Dean and one of the many enthusiastic fans in the audience, called the performances “absolutely electrifying. This was a great night for Dwight-Englewood School!” Dance Club advisor Vicky Frankel, who lends her choreographic talents to the competition. She says, “The program [continues to thrive] with incredible support from people like Vicky Frankel, and both donated and in-kind support from organizations such as the Bergen PAC, Englewood Area Community Foundation, The Community Chest, TD Bank, Bennett Studios, and a number of other local, dedicated organizations and businesses.” The approximately $5,000 raised by the event this year is indeed a big reward, but it’s not the only one for Aronson. She relishes the idea that Idol brings students together. “When performers are on stage, it is of course great fun for them, but it’s also a blast to be cheering from the audience,” she says. “At the end of the evening you vote for the winner. An invisible bond forms as the evening goes on. Kids realize that even though they attend different schools they have a lot in common. There’s this magic that takes over as the evening goes on, and by the time the Idol is crowned, everyone is on their feet cheering for the winner, no matter what school they go to. I love that moment.” Spring 2011 19
Page 1 and 2: TODAY S P R I N G 2 0 1 1 Celebrati
Page 3 and 4: HEAD’SMESSAGE A flourishing arts
Page 5 and 6: 12 | 14 | 16 | 20 | 36 | 24 | 28 |
Page 7 and 8: Bob Bakish ’81 (left) with Presid
Page 9 and 10: whose Broadway credits include The
Page 11 and 12: One of the School’s six handbell
Page 13 and 14: is that a conductor is a sort of jo
Page 15 and 16: Spring 2011 13
Page 17 and 18: D-E student artists gathered for a
Page 19: Chicago Sun-Times. On the web, Zimm
Page 23 and 24: Debbie Rivera ’11 at the MLK Hono
Page 25 and 26: monthly Dwight School newspaper cal
Page 27 and 28: Alumni Share Advice about Arts Care
Page 31 and 32: Alexander Koren ’12 The competiti
Page 33 and 34: D-E Students Earn National Scholast
Page 35 and 36: D-E Lower School music faculty memb
Page 37 and 38: Dickinson, Hodges Make Basketball H
Page 39 and 40: Woman” by Aretha Franklin. Guitar
Page 42: HEAD’SSERIES Dwight-Englewood Sch
Page 47 and 48: Elizabeth Quarles Ryden has been li
Page 49 and 50: the year, she and Gib travelled to
Page 51 and 52: E 63 Class Rep: Dr. Charles E. Kord
Page 53 and 54: Dave Yarock wins! D 71 Class Reps:
Page 55 and 56: 81 Class Rep: Kenneth Lenskold Emai
Page 57 and 58: 95 Class Rep: Nirupama Nukalapati 1
Page 59 and 60: INMEMORIAM Dwight-Englewood notes w
Page 61 and 62: BULLDOGBOOKSHELF If you are a D-E a
Page 63 and 64: We Want You Back! Join Us For These

Celebrating the Arts - Dwight-Englewood School

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?